£8.99, Lidl
This is from Lidl’s Easter wine cellar collection and is worth snapping up before the limited stocks disappear – even if you’re not a Lidl regular. It’s proof positive that there’s not only far more to New Zealand wine than Sauvignon Blanc, but more to the country’s reds than Pinot Noir. It’s typical of the Syrah style emerging in Hawkes Bay on the North Island: much more like a French Syrah from the northern Rhône than a typical Australian Shiraz (which is why the grape is called Syrah here, not Shiraz). Instead of exuberant, super-ripe fruit, you get a lighter, more savoury, black-pepper and clove flavour and softly perfumed blackberry and elderberry fruit. It’ll hit the spot if you’re having lamb for Easter, or roast rib or sirloin of beef (but not a rich casserole). You could also pair it with tuna steaks. Should you want a French label on your table instead, I recommend Lidl’s Saint-Joseph 2014, a Syrah from the northern Rhône at the same price.
Foremost Syrah 2015, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
£8.99, Lidl